


Sleeping Arrangements

by JovialBondservant



Category: Motorcity
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-13
Updated: 2015-04-13
Packaged: 2018-03-22 18:01:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3738259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JovialBondservant/pseuds/JovialBondservant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, Julie Kane would spend the night in Motorcity. These were rare occurances of course, and she would always sleep in the confinements of her car. </p>
<p>That is, until Mike finds out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleeping Arrangements

**Author's Note:**

  * For [neopuff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/neopuff/gifts).



Julie sighed softly as she listened to the hum of the engine and the chit-chat of her friends over the com-link. It was ‘mission accomplished’ and they were heading back to base, enthusiasm dying down as most everyone was tired. She glanced down to check the time, 3:49am. She sucked in her breath, remembering her internship at 6. 

The crew pulled into the burners’ garage, one by one. Mike had a large piece of Deluxe tech strapped to the top of Mutt, he unhooked it and with help from Dutch and Roth, they drug it to Chuck’s workstation. 

Julie milled around a bit, as they all eventually bid each other their goodnights and meandered off into their chambers. She slid back into her car, 9Lives, turned the key and listened to it hum to life. She groaned. 

4:23am

Definitely not enough time to go home to sleep. 

Powering the car down again, she set an alarm, reclined back a bit, and snuggled into the fluffy cover she had on her seat. She had learned early on that sleeping down in Motorcity would be necessary on occasion, and she had added a few niceties to accommodate those nights. Eyelids heavy, she knew she would drift soon and decided to leave a quick message with Claire. 

\--

Mike was always the last to retire, his mind was very active and he would never be able to doze off without the confirmation of his team’s safety. He wandered out of his quarters to double check everything, make sure nothing was left on or left out. 

He paused momentarily, a bit surprised to see 9Lives parked in the usual spot. Sprinting over to make sure everything was okay, he peered in to see Julie.

“..so if he asks where I’ve been, the short story is a sleep-over at your house.”

“Jules?” He tapped on her window.

“Mike!” Wide eyed and a bit flustered, she turned off her com-link and stepped out of her car. Brushing off her hands on her jeans, she chuckled softly. “Didn’t expect to see you up.”

“Didn’t expect to see you here.” A small grin graced his features.

“Yeah, well, I figured I’d try to power-nap it out down here before the morning.”

Immediately his features fell. “You were gonna sleep in your car?”

“I do it from time to time, it’s no big deal.”

“You can’t rest in a car though,” Contemplative, he stared off a moment in thought before settling on some sort of decision. “Come on.” He grabbed her wrist softly, inviting her along with him. “You’re sleeping in a bed tonight.”

She shook her head lightly, her smile never leaving her face, and followed after.

Mike hit the light switch revealing a fairly plain bedroom. Aside from a few knick-knacks in the corner and his jacket hanging off the hook on the wall, there was not much in it that said “Mike”. He had a decent sized mattress that sat atop a make-shift bed frame, with a small crate at his bedside and a lamp placed on top. Other than that, there wasn’t much else. Everything was very neat and simple, similar to how the pods were set up in Deluxe, but the objects inside were unique to Motorcity. She noted that his walls were splattered in an array of vivid paint and wondered if he did that himself. It didn’t quite look like Dutch’s work. 

“Well, there’s the bed.” He extended his arm out as she stepped towards it and sat down. “Make yourself comfortable and I’ll see you in a couple hours.”

He smiled courteously and turned to leave. Julie raised her brow. 

“Where are you going?”

“I was gonna go sleep in the couch,” He answered matter-of-factly, a bit caught off guard that she was questioning his leaving. 

“If I can’t sleep in my car, you can’t sleep on the couch.” Julie crossed her arms. “There’s no way my conscience will let me sleep if I know I stole your bed from you.”

“You didn’t steal--”

She frowned. 

And he laughed. She was tired and precious, and far too adorable with her pouty lips and pointed stare. They were both ready to sleep and there wasn’t any point in arguing the matter. Wordlessly, he clicked off the light and made his way to the other side of the bed. Pulling back the covers, she mimicked his motions, sliding in beside him with a sizeable distance between. 

She was on her side, turned away from him. He lay on his back, with his hands placed on his chest. He turned his head toward her and couldn’t help the small grin that grew at the sight of her. 

“Goodnight Jules.”

No reply, other than the steady sound of her breathing. Mike closed his eyes and drifted into a light sleep. 

A soft buzzing sound could be heard, an alarm of some sort. Mike’s brow furrowed in response. Still tired and not wanting to get up, he turned over, eyes blinking in an attempt to wake up. 

His eyes shot open. Julie sat on the edge of his bed, combing her hair out gently with her fingers before sliding on her boots. He relaxed a bit as the memories of the night before slowly came to mind. 

She stood up and made her way to the door, glancing back at Mike. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you,”

“What time is it..?” 

His voice groggy, Julie couldn’t help but smile a bit. “Nearly 5:30”

“..so early…” 

She nodded in response. “Get some sleep, I’ll see you later.”

“Promise me you’ll take a nap or something later, this is...awful.” He groaned into his pillow.

She chuckled.

“Goodnight, Mike.”

\--

“Euchh” Julie frowned. She was covered in grease, goo, food and other foreign substances that she dared not think about. Flicking her hands about, bits of gunk flung off her in all directions making the place even dirtier. 

She rubbed her arm a bit. 

She was itchy. 

Certainly, this would be the last time she helped Jacob in the kitchen, she couldn’t recall feeling this grotesque. Next time he asked for a taste-tester, she would stand firm and say no. 

As if he could hear her thoughts, Jacob piped up, his gravelly voice coming from the kitchen. 

“Alright kiddo, I mopped up the floor so you wont slip, you can come in and wash your hands at least.” His face was apologetic, he hadn’t meant for his stew to explode on her the way it had. 

Turning on the sink, she rinsed off her hands and arms, as Jacob continued to wash down the counters. 

“You know,” he spoke over the sound of running water. “We do have a shower in the back. You can get cleaned up, wash your clothes.”

He paused a moment, glancing around to ensure they were alone before speaking. “I know how much of neat-freak your dad is.”

Julie shut off the water and stared at him, unsure if she heard him correctly.

“My dad..?”

Jacob returned to his scrubbing. “Kane, Kapulsky… I knew your father well before he changed his name.”

She leaned against the counter, attentive to his every word. “You knew who I was the whole time?”

“Even if your name was just a coincidence, you can’t hide the fact that you look like your mother.” He looked back at her. “You’ve got her spirit, too.”

She swallowed and turned away. “Are you gonna tell them..?”

“It’s not my secret to tell.” He offered her a smile. “But between you and me, I don’t think it’ll make a difference to them. You’re still a burner.”

She smiled back at him. 

She knew she wasn’t ready for the rest of the team to know. There was so much going on these days, she knew they had to stay focused on the missions that came up. Still, it was nice to have someone in the burners know who she was. It gave her a sort of balance, with Claire from Deluxe being her only companion who knew the truth. Now there was someone on both sides she could confide in. 

Jacob washed out his rag, before continuing to clean. “Now, I’ve got this place under control. You go on ahead and go take that shower.”

Julie nodded and exited the kitchen. Rushing back toward the bathroom, she almost ran into Mike.

“Whoa there, what happened to you?” He gestured toward her hair and clothes, which were covered in gooey green splotches. 

“Kitchen incident, Jacob’s fault. Kinda gross and I need a shower.” 

Mike stepped to the side, hands up and out of the way. “Say no more, go right ahead.”

Julie quirked up a smile in response, and walked past before pausing. 

“Hey, Mike?” She turned back towards him. “You guys don’t happen to have any spare clothes I could borrow?” 

Mike’s eyes widened a bit at the request, knowing he didn’t really have anything to offer that would be Julie’s size. “Hold on a sec,” he paused. “Or, how ‘bout you come with me?”

She followed him into his bedroom and he reached under his bed. There wasn’t any dresser or closet anywhere, Mike had instead resorted to keeping his clothes in a box. He placed it on the bed. 

“You’re welcome to use anything I have. If you want, I can go see if Chuck or Dutch have anything smaller..”

“No, this is fine.” She smiled up at him. “Thanks, Mike.” 

Returning her smile, they were both soon startled by the sound of a small explosion, followed by a cry from Jacob. “I’m okay, if anyone’s wondering!”

Mike shook his head. 

“The peppers just have a bit of a kick!”

“I’m gonna go see if he needs any help. You got everything?”

She nodded in confirmation, and then he left. 

Rummaging through his things, she noted how small his wardrobe was. She grabbed a white T-shirt, and looked for some sort of bottoms that she could use. Most were jeans, but she eventually found something with a drawstring and grabbed that. 

In the bathroom, Julie peeled away her sticky clothes. She separated her dirty outerwear from her cleaner undergarments. Peering around, she found a blow-dryer underneath the sink. She wasn’t really sure whose it was, perhaps it belonged to Texas, but nevertheless, she decided to use it to her advantage. 

She turned on the shower and waited for the water to heat up, but soon realized that that wasn’t going to happen. Heated water was a luxury that came with living in Deluxe. Motorcity was not so fortunate. 

Regardless, Julie would not be thwarted. She braved the cold water and stood in the shower, scrubbing her skin clean and combing her hair free of the gooey food chunks. 

After she felt significantly cleaner, she stepped out momentarily to grab her clothes and scrub them down. As each article of clothing was cleaned, she slung it over the shower rod to drip-dry. 

Once finished with her laundry, she shut off the water. Wringing out her undergarments, she used the hair-dryer to complete the task. She slipped into her bra and panties, and then pulled on Mike’s shirt. 

Picking up the bottoms, she was surprised a bit, it appeared as though she had chosen some sort of draw-string boxers. A bit flushed, she shrugged her shoulders and put them on. Putting away the hair-dryer, she wrapped her hair in a towel, choosing to sneak back to Mike’s room and exchange out the boxers instead of spending any more time in the bathroom. 

She gave her dripping laundry one last glance, before exiting the bathroom. With the fan on, she hoped that it would be dry by morning. 

Tip-toe-ing back to his bedroom, she quietly pushed open his door and peered inside. 

Mike was in there, sliding his box of clothes back under the bed when he heard the door squeak. 

“You’re back,” He stood up and turned toward her enthusiastically. Immediately he came to a halt as his face felt heated. She stood before him wearing his far-too-large shirt and boxer shorts. Her hair was pulled back and wrapped in a towel, away from her face that was flushed pink. Wide-eyed and adorable, she stared back at him. He turned away. 

“Jacob didn’t need too much help, the oven was just acting up.” 

He refused to chance a look in her direction. His chest felt tight and his throat felt dry, but it wasn’t really a bad feeling. Glancing back toward the bed and considering her state of dress, he spoke again. “Are you..staying the night..?” 

Wordlessly, she nodded, though she knew he could not see her response. She spoke. “I know it’s still kind of early in the evening, but my clothes are hanging up to dry right now. I figured it might be easier if I just...stayed.” 

Finally, Mike looked up at her. She had only stayed with him the one time, and that was over a month ago. Still, he had never retracted the offer and was happy to share his abode with her. “Absolutely,” 

He noticed her rubbing her arm as she stood in the doorway, goosebumps evident on her skin. Reacting to the sight, he fumbled momentarily. “Jules, you’re cold.” 

As if noticing for the first time, she glanced down at her arms in surprise. “Haha, yeah. Didn’t realize there wasn’t any hot water down here.”

Refraining from scooping her up entirely, he walked over and urged her toward the bed. “Please, make yourself at home. You’re freezing and I don’t want you to get sick.” 

She shuffled over and climbed into bed, melting into the space between the sheets and comforter. He pulled the blanket up to her neck, and she couldn’t seem to wipe the smile that made its way on her face. 

He made his way around to his side of the bed, and settled in, on top of the blanket with a fair distance between them. 

They sat for a few moments before Julie could hear him chuckling. 

“How do you even mess up stew that badly?”

She smiled. “Who puts peppers in stew to begin with?”

They laughed and he looked over at her, snuggled up in a blanket with a towel on her head. He patted the towel. “You look really cute.” 

\--

Julie sleeping over in Mike’s room became a fairly common occurrence from then on. There were many times when a mission would keep them out late, and it was easier to just stay the night in Motorcity than it was to rush home. 

She used to leave messages for her dad, notifying him that she was sleeping over at Claire’s, but he was rarely home and didn’t check up on her pod, so her messages were often unread and unnecessary. 

With that, she found herself staying in Motorcity more. Some nights she would lie in Mikes bed wishing for simpler life. She wanted to forget who she was and embody who she is. Stay in Motorcity and never back to Deluxe as Julie Kane. 

To simply be Julie Kapulsky. Full time, with a clear conscience and no guilt. 

\--

It was a lazy Sunday morning and Julie sat at the bar, poking at the spinach omelette on her plate. 

Mike sat down on the stool beside her.

“Julie, can I…” He glanced around the countertop, a bit uneasy with himself, fidgeting in his spot. He lowered his voice. “Julie can I talk to you about something personal?” 

Julie nodded her head earnestly, trying to put him at ease. “Anything Mike.”

“You can stop me anytime if you’re uncomfortable, but, it’s about your dad..”

Julie could feel her face pale and her stomach dropped. Her throat seemed to have closed up on her and she drew in a sharp breath that was more noticeable than she would have liked. 

“It’s just, you’ve been staying over more often, and I hear you say some things at night…” 

She tore her gaze away from him a bit too abruptly. Her heart was racing and she clenched her fists. This was never how she imagined the conversation going. She wasn’t ready for him to know. 

“Julie..” He placed his hand atop her fist. “Julie, I want you to know that you always have a place in Motorcity. Your safety is worth more than any intel we could gather by having you go up to Deluxe.”

Her brow knit together in brief confusion. She dared a glance at him.

His face was absolutely sincere and wrought with concern. 

“If your dad," he paused, and then quieted his voice further. "if he abuses you in any way, I just,” He shook his head, trying to find the words “I don’t want you to feel like you have to suffer for the sake of the team. You’re more important than that.”

Julie’s eyes widened and relief washed over her like a flood. “My dad! He’s not, he doesn’t--”

She tried to laugh it off, more for the sake of recomposing herself. “In my sleep, what did I say..?”

Mike frowned a bit, and looked away, recollecting the words she had said in her slumber. “I can’t always tell, but sometimes it sounds like ‘stop’ or ‘no’, and it’s always directed at your dad.” 

He looked up her. “I just, I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

Julie smiled apologetically at her friend before returning to stare down at her plate. “It's nothing, honest. Just typical teenage rebellion.”

Mike seemed unconvinced, but decided not to pry. “Well, you do have a home here in Motorcity, if you ever want to make it permanent. I’ll get you your own quarters and everything.”

“What, you don’t like me staying in yours?” She smirked up at him.

“Not when it’s cold! You hog all the blankets.” He teased her.

“Well, if you’d skooch a little closer, we could share.” She waggled her unseen brows and laughed as he turned away from her, a bit of a blush evident on his face, as well as a smile. 

The waitress walked up to their spot at the bar, greeting Mike who hadn’t been there when Julie ordered earlier. The waitress informed him of the Breakfast Menu, which would only be available for another thirty minutes. He nodded in response, before ordering. 

Waiting for his food, the pair sat in silence. 

Julie finished off her omelette in the process, but couldn’t help thinking over the earlier conversation. Her secret was safe, but that didn’t really make her feel better. Despite her initial reaction, she couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. She almost wished he already knew.

“You know…I hear there’s a cold snap coming.” He glanced her direction out of the corner of his eye with a growing smirk. “I might have to take you up on that earlier offer.”

She laughed easily, torn away from her thoughts by his words. 

\--

Julie sat atop 9Lives. It was late, but the car was still warm from the engine. She kicked her legs a bit as they swayed in front of the bumper. She looked up towards the ceiling of the garage, thinking over the days events. She and the burners had spent the better portion of the evening out on a thrilling joyride following the successful mission in freeing Mike. 

She sighed. 

She didn’t want to go home. Apart of her was afraid of what would be waiting for her when she got back to Deluxe. The other part of her was afraid that if she stayed in Motorcity longer she’d never go back at all. 

She couldn’t do that.

Bringing her knees up to her chest she shut her eyes in contemplation. 

The garage door opened. 

“There you are,” Mike’s enthusiastic voice filled the room as he entered and made his way toward her. “I was just about to head to bed if you wanna come with…” 

His voice died down as he approached where she sat. “Something wrong?” 

She shook her head, trying to rid herself of her thoughts and smiled up at him. “Just thinking.”

He looked at her with concern on his face. “Julie, you know you can tell me anything.”

Julie nodded and looked down at her feet a brief moment, gathering her thoughts, her words, before looking up at him in distraught. “Mike, I want to tell you everything,”

“I know.” He offered her a small smile. “And that’s good enough for me. You’ll tell me whatever it is when you’re ready.” He brought his hand up to her arm in a reassuring manner. “C’mon now, let’s get some sleep.”

Side by side, they walked to his bedroom. Once they reached the entrance however, she stood still in the doorway as he made his way around to his side of the bed. 

Awkwardly she remained, suddenly without a clear conscience and without knowing what to do. She had never felt any qualms with this arrangement before, but standing here, she felt as though she was betraying Mike. 

He invited her into his room, into his life, to lay beside him whenever she needed to and he didn’t even get to know who she truly was. 

She wasn’t exactly sure where this sudden surge of emotions was coming from, but her throat felt dry, and seemed to seal shut as a result. 

Mike had tossed his jacket on its hook, and peeled back the sheets before looking up at her. Concern engulfed him, he immediately returned to her side.

“Jules…” 

He wasn’t even sure what to say to her, so he settled for brushing back the hair from her face, revealing the tears Julie didn’t realize she was crying.

Frantically, she wiped the tears from eyes. She looked up at Mike, wide eyed and worried, with his hands on her shoulders.

“Mike, I..” She desperately tried to get her words out. It was if she was in a dream, swallowing her words, unable to get them out or speak with a strong voice. She felt like she was about to break down. She screwed her eyes shut and drew in a shaky, nervous breath. She needed to say something. 

“Mike, I’m Julie Kane.”

She was scared.

She felt herself choke on a sob as the tears flowed freely.

“My dad is--”

Sucking in a sharp breath, her eyes widened in surprise as he embraced her, holding her tightly as they stood in the doorway. 

Her fingers gripped his shirt tightly as she tried to cease her shoulders from shaking. She spoke inbetween sobs. “I wanted to tell you Mike, for so long, I just, I was so afraid..”

“I know.” He closed his eyes and held her closer to him.

They stood there a moment before his grip on her softened, letting her go. 

She pulled back and lifted her hands to her eyes, again wiping her tears. He looked down at her and couldn’t believe how small she looked. So fragile yet so brave, standing before him. 

Gently he grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward the bed. 

“C’mere,”

Julie lifted her head and breathed in, gaining composure. 

They climbed into bed and he pulled her next to him. 

Side by side they lay, Julie in the crook of his arm. She stared upward into the dark room as she felt her body calming down.   
“What are you thinking?” She asked, her voice barely a whisper. 

“Lots of things.” She looked up in his direction to see in the dim light that he too, was staring up at the ceiling. His face seemed to be etched in concentration. 

“Tell me your thoughts.” Laying beside him was a comfort, but she couldn’t yet shake the nervousness that had a hold on her. 

Though he had never truly pieced together the whole ordeal, it was something he had considered in a far-fetched “what if?” sort of manner. He had always dismissed the prospect though. It felt too absurd, too peculiar to be even remotely true. Still, he had never seen Kane care for any single person before, the way he had when he thought Julie was in danger. 

“Is he...a good dad?”

She closed her eyes in response. Turning away, she nodded slowly. 

He let out a sigh, she wasn’t sure what that meant. 

“He was like a father to me, once.”

His voice was quiet, solemn. She recalled a time where Mike Chilton’s name was brought up at the dinner table when her father spoke of his work. His eyes would light up at the mentioning of his prodigy cadet. Julie would laugh in response. 

“I can’t even imagine how hard that must be, for you.”

“I wanted to tell you.” Julie found herself fiddling with the edge of the blanket. “I was just afraid, I’m still afraid, that if you knew—”

“Jules, I see you go out there and put your life on the line for Motorcity everyday.” he laughed softly. “I’d trust you with my life, enough to jump out a window or something if you asked.”

Julie smiled in response and snuggled a bit further under the covers before frowning. 

“Mike. Your feet are cold.”

“Yeah.” He sighed and grinned as he looked down at her. “It’s kinda why I got you here.”

He lifted his foot a bit and placed it on her leg.

“Augh, you’re terrible.” She laughed despite herself and he joined her. 

As they quieted, Julie lay in thought. 

“Thank you, Mike”

“Hmm?”

“For everything, I mean it.” 

He smiled softly and unseen in the dark room. “I feel like it should be me thanking you..” He rubbed her shoulder affectionately before speaking again. “Now, crazy day’s behind us. Get some rest.”

She nodded happily and turned on her side as he scooted closer and draped his arm over her.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written way back in 2013, and eventually disregarded because someone else had written a similar fic (which is why mine just kinda...ends...). Looking back at it though, I still enjoy it enough and thought it would be fine to post it for Neopuff's birthday.


End file.
